RPod Adventures - 2021 - Part II

Or maybe I should say this is Part III as my first RPod adventure blog covered two trips. Last week my youngest sister and her husband and I met up at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. The park is near Brighton, Ontario and is right on one of the Great Lakes, Lake Ontario. The park is rather small but has some nice trails, a one way ring road that has a bicycle lane, a large sandy beach and lots of shoreline that you can walk with the dogs. Dogs are not allowed on the sand beaches so I've actually never been  to them.  

We arrived at just about the same time. It was further than I thought, it was nearly a four hour drive for me but just two for my sister and her husband.  It had rained there so the end of the entry way to my site was a large pool of water. I was going to try to back in myself but when I saw that I decided to let my brother in law do it and in any case there was already a line up behind me. 

From the pictures of the sites online, we had thought that our two sites opened on to one another but in the years since the pictures were taken the vegetation behind the dogs had grown up.  We used my site as it was more private and again easier to tarp.  My sister's site was very open to the next site; great for two families but not if you want a bit of privacy. We were just downhill from the washroom but it was obscured by trees and vegetation and it turned out to be a good thing being so close. There also was a dishwashing station right at the end of the building so we had a short little walk up a path from my site to do dishes.

It was sunny the second day but the forecast for the rest of the week was for rain. After breakfast we headed off to do the Marsh Boardwalk. At the end of the boardwalk, you go through a cedar wood with all of these "horse" trees.  They say what happened is that a storm came through and damaged the main growth of the tree so that trunk grew out the side causing the curve in the trunk.

Later, I took advantage of the sun and took the dogs to the lake to see if they liked swimming.  I didn't expect Liam, who usually won't even walk through a puddle to like it but he and Teddy both enjoyed chasing waves. After that we couldn't even go near the shoreline and they were trying to haul me down to the water. I'm still not sure if they like swimming. People build all kinds of stone sculptures from the rocks on the shoreline.  The bottom of the lake here is a stone shelf, which drops off like stairs as you walk out. 

The next day we went to the Presqu'ile Light house and stopped on our way back at a picnic area. You drive around the park on a one way ring road, there are a few trail heads that you could stop off and do as well.

I have a picture of Beckett and Keltic sitting on this breakwater but Teddy and Liam just wanted to jump right in. There's no swimming in the lake here as they say the current is very strong.  There's a ship called the Speedy that is shipwrecked off the shore here.

I did get a picture of them standing on the foundation of the light house. I didn't even have to ask them to get up, Liam just hopped right up. 

Both of these were very short walks so while my sister and her husband went to town, I took the boys on a longer walk down the shoreline from our campground.

Common Milkweed

I don't know if you can see it but there's a rock out to the left past this dead tree (maybe you can see it if you make the picture larger). I had Beckett and puppy Keltic out to that rock. I had hoped to take Teddy and Liam out to it to recreate that picture but they were such nuts about the water I didn't dare for fear they would haul me under. 

I'm not sure what this plant is in these last two pictures but this is what we used to call milkweed when I was a kid. We used to even eat the heads of the plant before it went to seed. 

When I got back to camp, since the forecast the next morning was for rain, I decided to make the cinnamon buns in my Coleman oven so we would be able to have them for breakfast the next morning. It was the first time I used the oven, it worked beautifully.

 My sister and I did a short hike right from the campground before dinner. There wasn't really much to see on this trail as the grass is so tall, the trail does have a number of lookouts that let you go see the bird nesting areas. There weren't any birds nesting. 

It actually didn't rain the next morning but rather started around noon so I could have done them in the morning.  I  warmed the cinnamon buns up in the electric fry pan. If we hadn't been so laid back that morning we probably could have gotten in another short hike but just as we were finishing up the rain started.

So the day was spent, napping watching a movie and listening to music. There were a few breaks in the rain to walk the dogs and the rain did stop in time for a camp fire that evening. I had pre-made a foil packet dinner of meat balls, tater tots and mixed vegetables all covered in cheese. It turned out to be just what we needed on a chilly day. The last morning we were lucky that we didn't have to take down in the rain although everything was still rather damp. I put all the wet stuff on the floor of the trailer and took it out to dry at home.

So we're home safe and sound and planning the next RPod adventure.

RPod Adventures - 2021

This year while we are still in the pandemic I decided that I would just stay in the province of Ontario.  It was hard making reservations as we were in lockdown and it seemed like everyone wanted to go camping.  You had to be online early in the morning the day the sites opened for booking or you would lose out.  We made reservations staring after the May long weekend.  The first reservation had to be cancelled as we were still under lockdown, so no camping at Bon Echo this year. We changed the dates of our Algonquin Pog Lake trip, then cancelled those dates after booking later dates at the Algonquin Lake of Two Rivers campground.  Well, my youngest sister and I cancelled our reservations, another sister and her husband kept their reservation and made it a ten day trip.  When the province lifted the lockdown, my youngest sister, her husband and I got in a short trip to Silver Lake Provincial Park.

None of us had been to Silver Lake, it's right on Highway 7 through Ontario so we thought it might be noisy at night but it wasn't bad at all.  We were only there for three nights. We had nice pull through sites. I had my brother in law pull my trailer through the wrong way so that we would be facing each other.  

My sister and I went to a conservation area near by that had a Lady Slipper colony. We were lucky to find that they had bloomed a bit early this year. I don't think I had ever seen so many Lady Slippers.  The pictures don't do it justice. The dogs were allowed on the boardwalk which due to COVID was supposed to be one way but some people walked it in the wrong direction.  

The whole boardwalk is only a little more than 400 m so we walked it twice and also stopped to do a short lookout trail at the same conservation area.

We had fairly good weather; the only problem was Gypsy Moth caterpillars. They were everywhere, you had to watch where you sat so as not to squish them. Many of the trees had most of their leaves eaten by these voracious little critters. It always sounded like it was raining under the tarp due to leaf litter and falling caterpillars. 

There's a nice little beach in the park. We didn't go swimming though as it was rather cool. There's also a rather nice little boardwalk trail through a marsh that connects the campground loops. 

Our next trip after a two day stop at home for a shower and groceries was Algonquin Park at the Lake of Two Rivers campground. This trip would see another of my sisters and her husband join us. Since they were already camping nearby, they arrived first but I wasn't that far behind them. Again I had one of my brother in laws back me in as the space was a little tight and I wanted to be in my site on a angle.  We ended using my site the most as the fire pit was the easiest to tarp. 

We did a couple hikes and couple fairly easy walks in Algonquin. One trail was right across from the campground so we were able to just walk down the highway a bit to get to the trailhead. Another hike was on the Lookout trail, this wasn't a long hike but the ascent and descent were rather steep. We also went to the Logging Museum and the Spruce Bog boardwalk, both easy walks. 

The photos above are all at the Logging Museum. There is a small indoor display which was also open but with COVID they had to limit the number of people inside. 

The Spruce Bog boardwalk is another easy walk. We saw a mother grouse with her chicks. The chicks were all down on the ground while mum warned us off.

From the top of the Lookout Trail, we could see the Lake of Two Rivers off in the distance. Algonquin park is huge, there are many campgrounds right on the Highway 60 corridor but there are plenty of campgrounds in the interior of the park as well as backcountry campgrounds. At the campground where we were, there was a restaurant, camp store and gift shop located just outside the campground right on the highway, so that made getting ice and anything else we had forgotten rather easy. The campground also had a good beach and even a small dog beach. Again we didn't go swimming as the weather was rather cool; one night it was very cold, single digit temperatures in late June.  The only problem we had, other than no potable water in the campground, was that we had power surges, which blew out my Keurig coffee maker and the 30 amp circuit breaker on my sister's little trailer.  I'll have to invest in a surge protector, but they're rather expensive. I replaced my Keurig and I'll just remember to unplug it when it's not being used for now.

Anyway, that's the first two adventures of this second COVID summer. I'm off to Presqu'ile Provincial Park for the next adventure.

Keltic's Tribute

Keltic

17 March 2012 - 25 May 2021

So yesterday I wrote Keltic's tribute to post on the web site In Memory of Pets.  The words didn't come and I'm not happy with what I wrote, perhaps someday I'll find more fitting words to describe Keltic.  

He was a character, a dichotomy if there ever was one. He was aloof but clingy, boisterous and energetic even frantic at times but he also could be calm, he was vocal but could be quiet too. I just couldn't find the words to express that uniqueness. 

 "Keltic, my character, my clown;

Was there anything that could make you frown?

Loudly making your presence known; always putting forward your very best,

Your life, so full of energy and zest,

You should still be chasing squirrels and playing agility with me,

Sadly though it wasn’t to be,

Your life cut far too short;

I hope that together we made the most of the time you had.

Often I called you the “bad son”;

Maybe you were mischievous at times, but you were a really good boy, a good son!

I miss you, what I wouldn’t give to hear once more you barking at me!

Love Momma, Teddy and Liam miss you too!"

Keltic's Tribute on In Memory of Pets

First Birthday!

Hi there everyone, it be me, Liam. Mums said I could writed da blog post since it my first burfday. Ise not really sure what a burfday is but I gots treats and pressies so I guess it isn't a bad thing.

Da morning started out purty much the same as normal. We gots to have a bite of bacon and a bite of quiche before we wented for a walk. Then when we gotted home, mums did some cooking. She maded some mashed pa tatoes to make da frosting for the pupcakes. Da pupcakes were whole wheat blueberry muffins with pa tatoe yogurt frosting with bacon and blueberries on top.  Ise not really sure what dey taste like as I ated mine in one gulp. Teddy tooked his to the family room and tooked his time eating it and I had ta watch.

Mums said I is like a zoo in a dog suit. She says I is a gorilla sheltie with da bladder of a horse and da stomach of a goat.  I don't knows any of dos animals, so I is not sure why she says dat. Anyway she says dat is why I don't get my sheep stuffie that I gots as a burfday pressie. Mums says I will gets it when I stops eating everything. She is worried I mights need to go to the dogter if something gets stucked. I do gets to have my new collar once I gets a name tag for it and we'll gets to try da jerky soon I hopes.

Dere was only me and Teddy at da table for da candle lighting. Dat made Mums a little sad, she misses the growly old guy.  She said Keltic had to go see my brudder-before, Beckett, to keeps him company. Me and Teddy was both good boys for da picture so we would get our pupcake faster.  Dis be my first burfday but Ise been to other pawties before so Ise knows how it works now.

Once Mums takes da pictures then we gets to eat some pupcake. I wished we gots to eat more than one.  I liked my burfday. I wonder when I gets to have another one?